UK Offence Report

Freezing funds and economic resources

article 4(2) of The Iran (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2011

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

2 A person who contravenes the prohibition in paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence under this Order.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach article 4(2)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes the prohibition in paragraph (1).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Iran (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2011, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
14 December 2011
In force from
16 December 2011
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order places restrictive measures on certain persons complicit in or responsible for directing or implementing grave human rights violations in the repression of persons in Iran who speak up in defence of their legitimate rights, including freedom of expression. It also places restrictive measures on persons complicit in or responsible for directing or implementing grave violations of the right of due process, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, or the indiscriminate, excessive and increasing application of the death penalty, including public executions, stoning, hangings or executions of juvenile offenders in contravention of Iran’s international human rights obligations. The Order gives effect in the overseas territories listed in Schedule 1 to measures adopted by the European Union in Council Decision 2011/235/CFSP of 12th April 2011, and implemented in Council Regulation (EU) No. 359/2011 adopted on 12th April 2011 which came into force on 14th April 2011, the date of its publication. Article 1 is to do with the title of the Order, when it comes into force, its territorial extent and provisions to do with its application. Article 2 contains definitions used in the Order. Article 3 provides for publication by the Governor of a list of listed persons. Article 4 requires the assets of a person including a listed person to be frozen, and defines the circumstances in which an offence will be committed Article 5 prohibits making funds available to or for the benefit of a listed person. Article 6 provides exceptions to articles 4 and 5. Article 7 creates offences for circumventing the prohibitions in articles 4 and 5. Article 8 enables the Governor to direct that a person reasonably suspected to be a listed person may be treated as if he were such a person. Article 9 makes provision for licences to authorise exemptions from the prohibitions in articles 4 and 5. Article 10 requires institutions to disclose knowledge or suspicion of customers, past customers, or other persons with whom they have dealings as being listed persons, and creates offences for failure to comply with the requirements. Article 11 creates offences in connection with applications for licences and the failure to comply with the conditions attaching to a licence and provides for a defence. Article 12 provides for the Governor to obtain evidence or information to secure compliance with, or detect evasion of, the matters regulated by the Order. Article 13 provides for penalties and proceeding for offences created under the Order. Article 14 prescribes the manner in which notice may be given under the Order. Article 15 provides for the delegation of powers by the Governor. Article 16 sets out miscellaneous provisions to do with authorised acts. Article 17 provides that no liability will arise where a natural or legal person freezes funds or economic resources, unless it is proved that this action was negligent. Article 18 provides for the Order to cease to have effect, to the extent required, if the relevant Council Regulation is postponed, suspended or terminated in whole or in part. Schedule 1 lists the territories to which the Order extends. Schedule 2 deals with penalties and proceedings in the Sovereign Base Areas. Schedule 3 deals with penalties for the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Schedule 4 deals with penalties for St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and proceedings against an officer of a body corporate. Schedule 5 provides for the Governor to obtain evidence or information to secure compliance with the matters regulated by the Order. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source